Re:Show HN: I redesigned the Microsoft employee badge
by sliverstorm on Monday February 17, 2014 @06:21PM
(#7255195)
Why does the circle make it harder to see at a glance?
I think I see what he is saying. It takes my eyes a moment or three longer to "digest" the person I am looking at in the concept examples, and to my non-artistic not-a-photographer mind, it looks like an issue of framing.
Re:Show HN: I redesigned the Microsoft employee badge
by rickyc091 on Monday February 17, 2014 @06:29PM
(#7255228)
Yep, I think that's probably it. When have you seen a person with their head tilted one direction in an ID photo. When is the background any color other than white as well? I think the Ahmet Balkan sample ID at the top of the post would be the most accurate identification photo.
Re:Show HN: I redesigned the Microsoft employee badge
by sliverstorm on Monday February 17, 2014 @06:55PM
(#7255344)
The other thing for me, I think, is the circle matches the shape of a person's face. Obviously I don't think the circle is a face, but it's easier to quickly resolve a circle inside a square, than a circle inside a circle.
(Don't get me wrong, it does look nicer when round.)
Re:Show HN: I redesigned the Microsoft employee badge
by kayfox on Monday February 17, 2014 @06:56PM
(#7255347)
The photo is actually very small if you print it on a badge, about 3/4 or 7/8 of an inch (the width of the badge is roughly 2.125 inches).
Re:Show HN: I redesigned the Microsoft employee badge
by flibertgibit on Monday February 17, 2014 @08:31PM
(#7255752)
> - If you can't stop someone, you're not going to be able to read the number on the badge.
Ever heard of cameras?
Re:Show HN: I redesigned the Microsoft employee badge
by vacri on Tuesday February 18, 2014 @01:36AM
(#7256724)
Ever seen security camera footage?
Re:Show HN: I redesigned the Microsoft employee badge
by ozim on Tuesday February 18, 2014 @02:12AM
(#7256830)
Ever seen CSI? Enhance!
Re:Show HN: I redesigned the Microsoft employee badge
by zabraxias on Tuesday February 18, 2014 @12:18PM
(#7259423)
Sometimes I have to upvote sarcasm :)
Re:Show HN: I redesigned the Microsoft employee badge
by jmccree on Tuesday February 18, 2014 @08:17AM
(#7257930)
1080P security cameras and above are easily available, and likely affordable to a company like MS.
Re:Show HN: I redesigned the Microsoft employee badge
by scott_karana on Tuesday February 18, 2014 @01:35PM
(#7260011)
Lighting is typically the bigger issue, but you're right: Microsoft has the resources to do security cameras "right". :)
- Why does the circle make it harder to see at a glance? This doesn't seem to be true at all.
- If you can't stop someone, you're not going to be able to read the number on the badge. I don't see any reason why your employee number should be on the front. It definitely doesn't enhance security at all. People faking badges can fake numbers too.
- I'm not sure about your points re: cost or smaller employers, I mean, sure, but I can't imagine that cost would be a huge barrier - more likely changing out equipment would be.
- Badget photo backgrounds probably need to be plain, but as long as it's a photo you can be reasonably recognised from, I'm not sure what it matters. Simply by growing a beard you can become pretty hard to recognise from your badge photo from 5 years ago.
- I agree that the employment classification is probably good to have on the badge, but only because of annoying BigCo obsession about it. In practice, I'm not sure why it would matter much. When I worked at a big company it was just a political tool to remind consultants they were inferior.